american idol
Blogging from FLORIDA!
Part 2
I'm back! Today is Pool Day, and it's too hot outside (97* yesterday!), so I will sit inside and blog. Sounds like a good idea to me! :)
Well I believe I left off right before Saturday, which was a fabulous day. Definitely one of the best. We commenced our day at Animal Kingdom where I had to pass on my Minnie ears and buy some leopard print Mickey ears, you know, to get in the wildlife-jungle-safari spirit! We watched a few shows like the Lion King and Finding Nemo and walked all around and met Lilo & Stitch (much to Nikki's excitement... she is convinved Stitch is Haylie) By mid-afternoon, I was bored in my least favorite park, the Percocet wasn't doing enough for my back, and I was falling asleep during shows, so I took the bus back to the condo while my parents and sister stayed to ride the you-will-get-soaked rafting ride, etc. I was much more comfortable doing nothing but catching up on my beauty sleep for my evening with Minnie and Cinderella.
Once everyone else got back, I hurried to get ready, and Dad and I went to the park earlier than our dinner reservations so I could see Minnie Mouse. The line was so long that Mom and Nikki, trailing behind, actually got to join us for 2/3 of the line and meet Minnie & Mickey as well. By the time we were at the front of the line, I was jumping up and down like an excited little kid. (True excitement or the Percocet... it's your call!) Minnie was so excited to see me for like the billionth time of my life, and I reminded her that she is my favorite!! We took pictures and got autographs and hung out for a few minutes until I felt bad for the little kids in line so I said goodbye and Mickey gave me a kiss. (Don't worry Jonathan, he's just a mouse.)
Of course, it was almost time for our dinner reservations at Cinderella Castle, so we checked in there and waited for Cinderella to come down. While we were waiting, one of her coachman played a few games with us.
Can you name the 15 Disney movies with one-word names? ("The" doesn't count)
Bambi, Cars, Aladdin, Cinderella, Fantasia, Pinocchio, Hercules, Mulan, Tarzan, Pocahontas, Ratatouille, Dumbo, Dinosaurs, Bolt, Wall-E
Can you name the 7 Disney movies that contain absolutely no human characters?
Robin Hood, Cars, Lion King, A Bug's Life, Chicken Little, Dinosaurs, Bambi
What are the only 4 wishes the Genie could not grant?
Can't make anyone fall in love, can't kill anybody, can't raise the dead
What are the names of Cinderella's stepmother and stepsisters?
Lady Tremaine, Anastasia, Drizella
What are the names of the 4 fairies in Sleeping Beauty?
Flora, Fauna, Merryweather, Malificent
Name the 7 dwarfs.
Dopey, Sneezy, Bashful, Doc, Sleepy, Grumpy, Happy
I have to admit, I let the little kids answer first, but none of them knew so I scored the most points at all that Disney trivia. When you're raised on it, you don't really forget it. :)
Before long, Cinderella came down, and we all lined up to meet her. Nikki and I went first, and of course, I was so excited! We took lots of pictures with her, and then we went to wait for our Royal Invitation. A castle attendant gave us magic wands and swords for us to take up to the dining room with us, and once we had the Royal Invitation, we proceeded up the 40-step spiral staircase to Cinderella's Royal's Table. We were seated right at the window and were called "King, " "Queen," and "Princess" for the entire evening while we were waited on like royalty. Our waiter was accommodating and efficient, and a palace worker delivered an 8x10 and a packet full of 4x6s of our portrait with Cinderella. Also, a perk of a 9:25 reservation is having great seats to see the 10pm fireworks show, Wishes. The lights dimmed and the show's music played just as if we were outside the castle watching in the dark. We had fabulous seats to see the beautiful fireworks through the castle windows, and it was such a magical experience. Next, our meals were served, and I enjoyed my pasta and grilled chicken. We even got dessert - ice cream! We were surprised when Cinderella's mice came out, followed by the Fairy Godmother. They sang and danced around the dining room and put on a show for us. The Fairy Godmother told us that she's our Fairy Godmother, too, and whatever we wish for and dream of will come true if we believe enough.
After our wonderful dinner, we had a little bit of time to ride Dad's favorite ride, Pirates of the Caribbean, before going back home. So we sailed and yo-ho, yo-ho'ed as the last riders of the day. After that, we left the beautifully illuminated nighttime park and crashed into bed.
Sunday was Disney Hollywood Studios Day. For all of my life, this place was called MGM Studios, and although the new name better suits the park, it's long and annoying to say. Just my personal opinion. Anyways... by the time we got up after our big night, we rolled into DHS just shy of noon. We rode the Great Movie Ride before our lunch reservations at 50s Prime Time Cafe, a restaurant styled just like home in the 1950s. (The server is your "cousin," and "Mom" is in the back cooking the food. You will get in trouble if you're wearing a hat or resting your elbows on the table!) After our delicious, homestyle lunch, we did all kinds of things around the park, some together, some by myself, some with just Dad, some with just Mom... it was pretty crazy. I saw the Voyage of the Little Mermaid and the Beauty and the Beast shows, two of my favorites, and then while Mom and Nikki were seeing the stunts show, Dad and I saw Muppet Vision 3D, one of his favorites. All 4 of us saw the High School Musical 3: Senior Year show, thanks to my sister, and then we participated as audience members in the American Idol Experience, which was so fun. Then, we did Star Tours, and Dad got sick, and other unnamed people were crabby, so we ended up going back to the room. Nikki wanted to go back to Magic Kingdom to ride Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, the Tomorrowland rocket ride, and Dumbo, so Mom took her back in to do just that. Dad went to bed, and I chilled and finished my Jodi Picoult book. :)
The thing about Disney is that you cannot go-go-go-go from morning until night for days and days. About 2 days of that and you'll be burnt out for the rest of the trip. One of the books I saw said the average person walks 6-7miles/day at Disney, and that's in this heat and humidity that can often be unbearable. Sure, Disney is amazingly fun, but it's hot, and exhausting, and there's lines and cranky kids and tired adults, and well, you just can't do it all without a rest here and there.
Today, everyone wanted to have a relaxing day before heading back home. Dad is out fishing, Mom is by the pool, I'm here blogging, and my sister is still asleep. We're pretty much "Disney'ed-out" and ready to go home. We've had a truly wonderful time, and we've all been able to enjoy the break from our day-to-day monotony and have some magical fun.
Later today, we girls will probably hit up the "other" outlet mall in the area, the one where I bought the Crocs flip flops, the one that is the 2nd largest outlet mall in the world. (Yay!!) Then, we have dinner reservations at one of our favorites, Whispering Canyon Cafe at the Wilderness Lodge.
Tomorrow, we fly home... I think our flight is around 2? Not sure. But I believe I heard something about getting home at 4-something. Can't wait to see my puppies and my fiance!
xoxo
brooke white is going home. :( american idol just will not be the same. however, she has a beautiful voice and is so talented at piano and guitar so im sure she'll do something and i will download it and love it very much. of course.
more blogging tomorrow or friday...i haven't had a single second to breathe in almost a week. a lot of craziness, a few wonderful things, lots of early mornings and late nights and i am exhausted. but of course God is holding my breath so all i have to do is get through each moment. when you break it up, it seems more doable. so tomorrow morning bright and early i have an interview for my dream job, or at least what i think is my dream job at this point in my career..... the picu, pediatric intensive care unit. if i get this job, it's gonna take all the strength i have in me to work with sick kids, really reeeeally sick kids. i've been there before and compassion fatigue is an extremely real thing, but i need to work through my feelings and thoughts and give back what i'm destined to give. i really hope God opens doors for this one, but if not, i have another interview on tuesday and trust me, i'm going to be happy just to have patients. i miss mine already soooo badly and it's only been a week! (today was clinical final evals, but more on that later...)
a year ago today, who would have thought..... not just the job thing but school, family, relationships, emotional growth... take some time to reflect.
life. hold on tight... it's kinda crazy in a miraculous sort of way ;o)
NuRsiNg
Wow! What a week! It's been just beyond crazy over here. Most of the weekend, I worked on school projects that are coming due in the next month or so. Monday, our professor from Assessment was our "guest lecturer" and it was great. It was the pain/comfort lecture, and since she has a strong history in critical care, she was perfect. Sure beats that other grad student they've been sticking in there. For once this semester, we actually learned something in lecture. We *heart* Mrs. Yoost!!
And today is Wednesday, so that makes yesterday Tuesday, which is lab day, and no shocker here, we once again had a little too much fun. This week, we played GI Jeopardy. Mrs. Fox loves making us play games, so she totally got all into it. We even had the theme song music playing for Final Jeopardy. Nothing like a little game show action to go with intestines, stomas, and enemas! Next week is oxygen, and the following week is urine elimination. Then, it's our last week of lab already (well, before finals at least), and it's our big Care of the Dying Client lecture. That's always a tough subject. I think people would be amazed at how much there is to death.
gOoD sTuFf
I'm in NSCS (National Society of Collegiate Scholars), and we made the school paper for our book drive. I think it's kind of exciting. :) You can read it here. My mom and I literally filled my entire trunk full of books and donated them. It felt so good to be doing something to help out those less fortunate. Mom cleaned out Dad's office, so we found tons of books in there, and then we finally got rid of the A Beka books for the two years Nikki and I were homeschooled. Finally. Ha!
sCraPbOoKinG
Last night, Mom and I decided we'd go out for like an hour to dine at Bob Evans (mmm, soup!) and make a stop at Home Depot, but one thing led to another, and before I knew it, we were shopping. I read this really cool idea online of binding scrapbooking idea books so they can lay flat, and I have to say I think I'm going to do this a lot more often. My fiance has a big cutting machine at his work that can cut off the binding of a thick softcover idea book, and then I took the pages to Office Max and had them spiral bound for a few bucks. Definitely not bad... Look at these!
And in other scrapbooking news, check out Lisa Bearnon's Kit of the Month. I'm usually not totally into these, but this month's was seriously too cute to pass up. Overpriced... maybe.... but definitely too cute. Can't wait to play with all these goodies!
iDoL nEwS
Who is going home?? Dial Idol is predicting Ramiele, but it's pretty close. I'm still on Team Brooke, but last night, she definitely could have done better than she did. :(
tOdAy
Today has just been nuts. First of all, we're getting all the hardwood floors redone, and the whole downstairs is just a mess. They've sanded for 2 or 3 days now, and I guess they have to do all kinds of finishing. Which means we have to move out. Seriously...... is that not ridiculous?! I'm going to stay at my mom's best friend's house with Hayles, and Mom and Nikki are taking Ri up to my grandparents' condo since they're in Florida right now. Dad's still in Africa, so I guess that's one less family member who gets to move for a few days...
I got this random email from Emily at Boutique Cafe and apparently I won some kind of contest? They posted about these cute little first aid kits for kids, and as a nurse, I couldn't help but post and let them know how cute they were, and I guess my post won me two free kits! I'll definitely be keeping them in my car for when I have the boys and they get themselves into trouble.... which sometimes seems to be often. ;-)
Videochatting on iChat with my dearest fiance!! Gotta love Macs.... Look at this... Awww... Come home from Africa soon!!!!
Clinicals - that post is coming. Bet you'll never guess what I did today!!! ;-)
Tonight - my cousin is here... we're finishing up Evan Almighty (which is actually a lot better than I thought it would be!), then Idol in a few minutes. Duh.... Oh yes, and with pizza. And Cherry Coke. Yep, that's a must.
Monday night after our movies, I went upstairs to find my iMac unresponsive. It ended up crashing so I spent Tuesday morning trying to get it fixed with AppleCare, but of course I don't have my Leopard CDs, so I ended up having to take it into the Apple store Tuesday night. I was prepared to get the hard drive replaced, but the "Mac Genius" was able to get my computer to come back to life!! On the way home, I was craving Arby's curly fries, so I did that after I made a little detour to Cord Camera where I stocked up on the new Basic Grey and found some cute sale items! I am feeling soooo crafty!! Then Idol. Duh. :)
Lab yesterday was so much fun. It was feeding day where we learned about all kinds of foods, patient diets, tube feedings, tube insertions, etc... We even had a lovely smorgasbord of puddings, pureed items, juices, and thickened liquids so we could truly experience the lovely delicacies some of our patients' diets require. Delish! ;-)
Got my exam grade back... B :( But above the class average... so I guess it's okay.
Today... clinical... that post coming soon.
Then my every-other-Wednesday-ritual: laundry! I only do laundry every 2 weeks because I have way too many clothes, but I only have 2 sets of my uniform scrubs. Therefore, I must do laundry every 2 weeks instead of like every month or something as I would like to. Haha! And I was extra lucky this time because last week was spring break = no clinical = I haven't had to do laundry in 3 weeks! Woo! :-P
Then home this afternoon, and Jonathan was in his hotel so we got to do our first ever video chat!! Then we screenshared so I could see his pics! So exciting. I miss him so badly. Africa is just too far away!
Tonight... Idol, umm duh... GO BROOKE!!!! She rocks.
Missing Grey's Anatomy... April can't get here soon enough!!!!
xoxo....
Hey, it's me! It's the end of sPrinG bReAk and this week has been just craaaazzzayyyyy!!!
So where did I leave off?
Tuesday, Megan and I went and got our nails did' (French, of course!!) and then we went shopppinnnggggg!!!! Yay! There's just something about having just-done, perfectly-painted manicures - one of the *BeSt* feelings in the world. And shopping... come on, who doesn't need some retail therapy sometimes? Needless to say, Megs and I had a little too much fun...
Tuesday night, my cousin, Jonathan, and his sister came over to watch aMeRiCaN iDoL, as is Tuesday tradition at my house. Plus there was PiZzA! Enough said? My faves, as usual, were *bRoOke* and *jAsOn*. I want Kristy to leave, she just drives me nuts, but of course as it turned out on Wednesday, Amanda got the fewest votes so she's gone. Her voice didn't bother me really, but something about her just kind of annoyed me, so if it matters, I'm totally okay with the results. What I'm not okay with, though, is having Beatles songs two weeks in a row!! I think the performances of the Top 11 on Tuesday really showed how having nearly-identical themes two weeks in the row is just asking for trouble. No one really did astonishingly great, and from what I've heard from my friends and seen online on the blogs, most of us viewers were actually a little bored by it. Hope they have something better up their sleeve for next week.
Ahh, onto Wednesday. I definitely missed going to clinicals, but I did not miss waking up early! I got to sleep until 8ish when it was time to get up and go to Walsh University for my sister's college signing. Since what seems like forever, she's been going *cRaZy* with college scouts, campus visits, interviews, phone calls, masses of college flyers in the mail, etc. As a senior, it was definitely time to come to a decision, so she finally went with Walsh. I couldn't be happier. Of all the sch
ools she's been to, this one has always been one of my favorites. It's not too far from home, a lot of my friends' siblings go there and love it, it has a good reputation, and from what I saw Wednesday on my first visit to the campus, it just really seems like a nice fit for my little sis. I could even see myself going there - I actually think what I pictured college to be like is a lot more like Walsh than it is Kent. It just feels right. But Nikki has a bunch more opportunities and far fewer obstacles than I do, so I'm *ExCiTeD* for her.. I'm so proud of her for getting her softball scholarships so she can go to a great private college at just barely over what my tuition costs. I'm excited she can play out her dream on the Walsh Cavaliers - ever since she was a tiny little kid, it's always been live, breathe softball, and this is one of the highest levels she can bring it to. I'm so excited to see how she does at her new school in the fall.
To my little sis Nikki who I know is out there reading this, this opportunity only comes once, so make the most of it. Play hard, and study harder. Make good friends, and don't get pulled into the wrong crowd who will talk you into doing things you'll later regret. Listen to those who have been there, and learn from their mistakes. *ReAch fOr tHe sTaRs* but don't forget the road home, and don't ever forget your big sister loves you and is only a phone call away. :)
K, back to spring break. I get all sad thinking of my little baby sister being a big girl and going to college, so I can't help but run off on a tangent. ;-)
For Valentines Day this year, I surprised Jonathan with totally hard-to-get tickets to the Cavs game on Wednesday - rival teams, Cleveland vs. Detroit. Jonathan, m
e, Nikki, and her cute friend Chantelle braved the snow and went up to the Q . We had 3rd row seats (umm, yeah, 3rd row from the back of the highest part of the building, not courtside, lol). I normally hate basketball, but there are just some things that you don't mind doing when you're *iN LoVe!* so I made the most out of my first (and probably not last) basketball experience. I let Jonathan teach me how it is played since my vague recollections of second grade basketball in Phys. Ed. just wasn't doing it for me. I'm surprised how much faster real-live basketball goes by than Sunday afternoons watching it on the sofa ... that seems to go on and on and on and on forever. ;-) We def had a fun time, and our team won!!! Plus, I got cotton candy, so how could I not be happy? By the time we got home, it was late, but definitely worth it. Happy V-Day to my fiance!!!
Thursday, I took my Hayles to the groomers to get a haircut and then Jen came over and we *cHillaXeD*. She's not on spring break, but since her college is Catholic, she gets Thurs-Monday off. Niiice! We par-tayed until it was time for me to leave for my sleep study (PSG) and MSLT nap study. What in the world? Yeah, it's about as fun as it sounds like it would be. Ever since my car wreck last September, I've pretty much been a walking zombie, ready to fall dead asleep in just seconds. Therefore, I am now being evaluated to see if the constant exhaustion is a result of the wreck, or a result of an underlying sleep disorder that was just exacerbated by the wreck. Fun times, right?
I thought the studies would be an interestingly *FuN* experiment type event, and I will admit, it is really is fascinating how they can do this, but other than that, this is not fun. I had to be at the sleep center at 8:30p last night. I relaxed, read, did homework, etc. Then Renee, the tech, came and hooked me up to 30-40 wires all over my body so my neurons' electrical activity could then be transmitted to their system so they could tell which REM stage I was in, whether or not I was sleeping, whether or not I was breathing well, if my legs were restless, etc. etc. They also watch patients on cameras, too so they can see what they're doing in their sleep. I have to admit it feels kind of weird knowing someone out there is like watching every single thing you do. 11pm is the rule for quiet, in-bed, relax time, but we are allowed to do whatever we want until we are tired. I probably finally went to sleep a little after 12, and during the course of the night, Renee was in a few times to replace electrodes that had
fallen off. Then at 5:30a, she woke me up for real and made me go eat breakfast. She said I was the cheeriest person she'd ever seen wake up here. Even when I was a baby, my mom says I would wake up really cherry and happy, so I guess it's typical me, however, I will assure you though that it wore off quickly. After breakfast, she made me stay up for 2 hours until it was time for Nap 1 of 5 total in the MSLT (nap study). Basically, they give you 10 minutes or something to fall asleep. If you do fall asleep, they let you sleep for 15 minutes and then wake you up. If you don't fall asleep, you don't get another chance until the next nap interval. They are just trying to see if you are actually tired and how fast you go into REM. Most people should not reach REM in 15 minutes, so if you hit it within the 15 minutes consistently, you may have narcolepsy or something.
Well needless to say, I did stellar on my first nap. I was probably out within 1-2 minutes. Then I all-too-soon realized that there was an intercom conveniently located above my head. "WAKE UP AMANDA!!!!" Grrr. Then they made me do anything but sleep. So I did homework, read, talked on the phone, etc. until it was time for Nap 2. Once again, out like a light. Enjoying my restful slumber until I hear... WAKE UP AMANDA!!!!! Try to stay awake. Be bored. Time goes soooo slowly.... Time for Nap 3. No surprise, asleep in no time. WAKE UP AMANDA!!!!! Lunch time - Donato's Delivery. Be bored for another hour or two. I sat in bed doing homework and accidentally dozed off. Apparently the camera was always on in there because no sooner do I enter dreamland then do I hear WAKE UP WAKE UP WAKE UP!!! Yep, 3 times. Really fast. Really loud. Grrrrrrrrr. Nap 4 couldn't come soon enough. Lights off, out I go. Wake up. Tech wouldn't let me go home yet because she "saw something" on earlier naps and needs to read one more. But of course she won't tell me what because only doctors are allowed to do that. So I waited and waited and waited until Nap 5. Exhausted and not too happy about all the drama. Nap 5 went the same - asleep in no time, but then harshly woken up so I quickly packed up and drove home as fast as was safe. Of course, I went straight back to bed and got a real nap!!
By the time I woke up, it was around 8 on Friday night, so I hurried to church for our Easter Communion service. Great service, but afterards, still exhausted. Home afterwards and right to bed!
Ahh, alas, now it is Saturday...
Once again, it's American Idol time again. I said this year I wouldn't get reeled in, but well... so far I haven't missed an episode. :o)
My favorite since day one has been Brooke White, and as always, she did fantabulous tonight. She is so sweet and has such a beautiful voice.
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